still refuse, to be Government parties—and I personally can
thoroughly understand it—so little will a Government in
Germany ever be able to be a party Government. With the
difficulties which arise from this fact every German statesman
has had to fight, and in this relation of things, which is
historic and based upon the peculiarity of our party life and
of our State institutions, the last crisis has altered nothing
whatever. I do not shut my eyes," continued the Chancellor,
"to the excitement of party politics which pervades the
country." But he believed that there were wide circles of the
German people who did not wish to live permanently on
political excitement and recrimination. "What our people
desires in the first place is not to be disturbed in its
actual work, whether economic or intellectual, either at home
or abroad, in the markets of the world, by unrest or
experiments. It wishes to be supported and encouraged by a
policy of continuity and stability at home and abroad." As in
the past there had never been a single party which had given
its stamp to German policy, so all parties must work together
in the future. The question was not one of "actual
collaboration" or of nervous anxiety about the creation of a
temporary Parliamentary majority, but of the conviction that
there was an obligation to work imposed by the community upon
each of its representatives, and the certainty that this
obligation would survive the present turmoil.
It is an interesting experiment which the new Chancellor is
venturing on; but it seems to require a Bismarck in the
Chancellor’s shoes.
GERMANY: A. D. 1909 (December).
The Mannesmann Concession Question.
See (in this Volume)
MOROCCO: A. D. 1909.
GERMANY: A. D. 1910 (March).
Demand of the Reichstag for Ministerial Responsibility.
On the 15th of March, 1910, it was reported from Berlin that
the Reichstag had adopted a motion, made by a Socialist
member, demanding the introduction of a bill making the
chancellor responsible to the Reichstag for his official acts
and also extending his responsibility to cover all of the acts
and documents made by the Emperor, for which responsibility he
shall be answerable in a court of law.
[Transcriber's note: The First World War was fought from
July 28, 1914 to November 11, 1918, between the Allies
(France, the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States,
Italy, and Japan) and the Central Powers (Germany,
Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria).]
----------GERMANY: End--------
GHENT: A. D. 1900.
Municipal organization of Insurance against Unemployment.
See (in this Volume)
POVERTY, PROBLEMS OF: UNEMPLOYMENT.
GHOSE, Dr. Rash Bihari.
See (in this Volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1907-1909.
GIBBONEY, D. Clarence.
See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: PHILADELPHIA.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of Andrew Carnegie:
To Building for the Bureau of American Republics.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS, BUREAU OF.
For Court House and Library for Permanent Court of
Arbitration at The Hague.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1903.
To Foundation for the Improvement of Teaching.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1908.
To Hero Funds.
See (in this Volume)
CARNEGIE HERO FUNDS.
To Institute at Pittsburg.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907.
To Institution of Washington.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION: CARNEGIE INSTITUTION.
To Scottish Universities.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: SCOTLAND: A. D. 1901.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of George Crocker for Cancer Research.
See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH: CANCER RESEARCH.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of Edwin Ginn to Fund for the Peace Propaganda.
See (in this Volume)
War, The Revolt against: A. D. 1909.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of Mrs. Harriman and others to the State of New York for
a State Park on the Hudson.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1909-1910.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of Miss Anna T. Jeanes to Schools for Southern Negroes.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of Mr. John Stewart Kennedy.
Nearly $30,000,000, out of an estate valued close to
$60,000,000, was left to public institutions by John Stewart
Kennedy, banker and railroad builder, who died early in
November, 1909. The remainder of the estate was bequeathed to
relatives and employés. The larger bequests to religious,
educational, and benevolent institutions were the following:
Board of Foreign Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States $2,250,000
Board of Home Missions of the
Presbyterian Church in the United States 2,250,000
Board of Church Erection Fund of the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in the United States 2,250,000
Presbyterian Hospital in New York City 2,250,000
New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox,
and Tilden Foundations 2,250,000
Metropolitan Museum of Art 2,250,000
Columbia University 2,250,000
Church Extension Committee of the
Presbytery of New York 1.500,000
Trustees of Robert College,
Constantinople, Turkey 1,500,000
University of the City of New York 750,000
{299}
American Bible Society 750,000
Presbyterian Board of Aid for Colleges 750,000
Charity Organization Society of the City
of New York for its School of Philanthrophy,
"to which I have already given an endowment
of $250,000, or to the said school if the
same be separately incorporated at the time
of my death," 750,000
United Charities, a corporation of
the State of New York 1,500,000
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of Letchworth Park to the State of New York.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK STATE; A. D. 1907.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of Rhodes Scholarships.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
Of John D. Rockefeller to the General Education Board.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902-1909.
GIFTS AND BEQUESTS, Notable:
The Russell Sage Foundation.
See (in this Volume)
SOCIAL BETTERMENT. UNITED STATES: A. D. 1907.
From Mrs. Russell Sage to Yale University.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1910.
Of Mrs. Russell Sage to the U. S. Government.
See (in this Volume)
Constitution Island.
GINN, EDWIN:
Great Gift to Fund for the Peace Propaganda.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1909.
GIOLITTI, SIGNOR GIOVANNI:
Minister of the Interior and then Premier of
the Italian Government.
See (in this Volume)
ITALY: A. D. 1901, 1903, and after.
GIORGIS, GENERAL DE:
Command of Gendarmerie in Macedonia.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1904.
GLADSTONE, HERBERT J.:
Secretary of State for Home Affairs.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906.
First Governor-General of United South Africa.
See (in this Volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1908-1909.
GOBAT, ALBERT.
See (in this Volume)
Nobel Prizes.
GOETHALS, LIEUTENANT-COLONEL GEORGE W.:
Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal.
See (in this Volume)
PANAMA CANAL: A. D. 1905-1909.
GOLGI, CAMILLO.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES.
GOLUCHOWSKI, Count.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905-1906.
GOMEZ, José Miguel:
President of Cuba.
See (in this Volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1906-1909.
GOMEZ, General Maximo:
Military head of the last Cuban Rising against Spain.
See (in this Volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1902.
GOMEZ, General:
Acting President of Venezuela.
See (in this Volume)
VENEZUELA: A. D. 1905-1906, and 1907-1909.
GOMPERS, Samuel:
Sentence for alleged Violation of an Injunction.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908-1909.
GORDON MEMORIAL COLLEGE, at Khartoum.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: EGYPT.
GOREMYKIN, Ivan Logginovich.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1906.
GORGAS, Dr. W. C., United States of America:
In charge of the Sanitation of the Panama Canal Zone.
See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH: PANAMA CANAL.
GOVERNORS’ CONFERENCE, on Conservation of Natural Resources.
See (in this Volume)
CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: UNITED STATES.
"GRAFT," so called, in Municipal Government.
See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
GRAND TRUNK PACIFIC RAILWAY PROJECT.
See (in this Volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1903.
GRAY, Justice George:
On the Anthracite Coal Strike Arbitration Commission.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902-1903.
GREAT BRITAIN.
See (in this Volume and Volume II)
ENGLAND.
GREECE: A. D. 1905.
Assassination of Prime Minister Delyannis.
His successors.
Theodoros Delyannis, the Premier of Greece, was assassinated
on the 13th of June, 1905, by a revengeful gambler whose place
had been closed by the police. A new Ministry formed by M.
Ralli conducted the Government until December, when its defeat
in the election of a president of the representative assembly
forced a resignation. It was succeeded by a Cabinet formed
under M. Theotokis, the leader of the Opposition.
GREECE: A. D. 1905-1908.
Barbarities of Greek bands in Macedonia.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1905-1908.
GREECE: A. D. 1905-1906.
Insurrection in Crete.
Demand for Union with "her Mother Greece."
Investigation by the Powers.
Resignation of Prince George.
Appointment of M. Zaimis.
See (in this Volume)
CRETE; A. D. 1905-1906.
GREECE: A. D. 1907-1909.
The Cretan Situation as dealt with by the
Four Protecting Powers.
See (in this Volume)
CRETE: A. D. 1907-1909.
GREECE: A. D. 1909 (July).
Destructive Earthquake in Ellis.
See (in this Volume)
EARTHQUAKES: GREECE.
GREECE: A. D. 1909.
The Government dominated by a Military League.
Its submission to the Dictatorship.
Whatever vitality may previously have animated the forms of
constitutional government in Greece was extinguished suddenly
in July, 1909, by a demonstration of power on the part of a
league of army officers to give orders to it. The Military
League was backed, evidently, by a strong popular feeling
against the Government, partly well founded, perhaps, but
largely due to an unreasoning desire for rash undertakings to
secure the annexation of Crete. The revolution in Turkey had
stimulated this by seeming to open opportunities for breaking
the island away from the claimed sovereignty of the Turks.
What Bulgaria had been able to do in the situation for
herself, and what Austria had done in annexing Bosnia and
Herzegovina, it must be that the Powers which held Crete in
commission, so to speak, could do for Greece, in the present
state of things, if Greece had a competent Government to deal
with affairs. This seems to have been the feeling, to a large
extent, which produced the Military League and the popular
threatenings whereby the Ministry of M. Theotoki was impelled
to resign office on the 17th of July. The new Cabinet
constructed by the King, under M. Ralli, held the semblance of
power a little more than a month, and then had to choose
between dropping it and taking orders from the League.
{300}
When it hesitated, and ventured an arrest of several leaders
of the military combination, the latter, in a body, to the
number of over 500, with about 2000 of the men of their
commands, took possession of a hill outside of Athens, on the
27th of August, and established there a menacing camp. Parley
was then opened with them and they submitted a programme of
demands which M. Ralli declined to accept, and resigned.
According to a manifesto published by the League on the 27th,
its demands, summarized in a letter from Athens, were as
follows: "The officers belonging to the Military League
respectfully ask the King and the Government to carry out
radical reforms, and especially to proceed with the
reorganization of the army and navy, in order that Greece
might not in the future have to undergo any more humiliations
such as she had had to tolerate in the past. The commands held
by the Royal Princes in the army and navy are considered by
the league to be prejudicial to their own prestige and to the
accomplishment of their duties. The officers consequently
insist that the Crown Prince, who is commander-in-chief of the
army, and the other Royal Princes, should not hold any command
in the army. They demand that the army shall be controlled by
a council composed of the commanders of the three divisions
under the presidency of the eldest of them, and the
superintendence of the Crown Prince. They further ask that the
two War Ministries should be invariably entrusted to the best
officers in the army and navy and not to civilians. Among the
detailed features of their programme they ask that four
classes of the reserve should be called to the colours
annually for manoeuvres, that a battleship of not less than
10,000 tons, and eight destroyers of not less than 150 tons
each, should be constructed, that the existing three cruisers
should be repaired, that all the useless small ships should be
sold, including the Royal yachts, with the exception of one
for the King, that a war school should be established, that a
foreign general with some officers should be called in to
organize a Staff service and to look after the theoretical and
practical training of the army and navy, and that a more
efficient corps of _Gendarmerie_ should be organized. In
order to provide the necessary funds to carry out these
reforms the league suggests that large retrenchments should be
made in the general Budget."
The King found a compliant premier, M. Mavromichalis, who
submitted to these dictations in principle, amnestied the
whole League, and took one of its leaders, Colonel
Lapathiotis, into his Cabinet, as Minister of War. Since that
day the actual Government of Greece has been transferred from
the King, his Constitutional Ministers and the "Boule," or
Legislative Chamber, to the Military League. The nominal
Government turned a cheerful face to the world by publishing a
semi-official explanation which began as follows:
"Now that the situation has become clearer it becomes plain
that the sole object of the military movement was the
reorganization of the army and the reform and improvement of
the Administration. The movement was at no time directed
against the King or the dynasty, nor had it as its object the
diminution of the rights and privileges of the Crown or the
violation of the Constitution. The request of the Military
Committee that the Crown Prince and the Royal Princes should
be relieved of their high commands in the army was only
formulated in their Highnesses’ interests, and with a view to
relieve them of grave responsibilities likely to injure their
prestige and in order to avert the discord and hatred which
personal favoritism and the sympathies of the Princes would
inevitably have engendered among the officers serving under
them."
That the League had strong backing in the country was shown by
popular demonstrations, one of which, at Athens, on the 27th
of September, brought 50,000 people, it was said, to the Champ
de Mars, to pass a resolution and to convey it to the King.
"The resolution began by expressing profound satisfaction at
the initiation of the struggle by the Military League against
the mischievous influence of parties on State affairs, and
against the misuse of interest in the army and navy, and …
concluded by declaring the determination of the people to
exercise constant supervision over the Government and the
Chamber until their demands had been completely fulfilled.
"The demonstrators then marched to the Royal Palace, where the
committee were received by the King and handed his Majesty the
resolution. The King, after congratulating them upon the
orderly and lawful way in which the people had made known
their wishes, expressed his conviction that his Government and
the Chamber would consider them and would vote the requisite
laws."
The Chamber, however, was less compliant, and showed marked
signs of refusing legislation for the removal of the royal
Princes from active service in the army. This angered the
military dictators, and fresh trouble was threatened. It was
averted by the resignation of the Princes, and by the speedy
adoption of the whole series of measures demanded by the
League, no less than twenty-three bills being enacted within
the space of an hour.
The dictatorial work of the League, however, had not gone far
enough to satisfy one of its chiefs, a Lieutenant Typaldos,
commander of a fleet of torpedo-boats and submarines, who
suddenly set on foot a naval revolt of his own, withdrawing,
with a few other officers and men, to Salamis and seizing the
arsenal there. But, having the League against him, Typaldos
was easily put to flight, and was captured eventually in
ignominious disguise. For a time after this all went smoothly,
and the Government was credited with a number of good
measures, which its military masters permitted it to adopt.
The situation was ruffled again toward the end of December by
some offensive words in the Chamber from the Minister of War,
Colonel Lapathiotis, which a large part of the deputies
resented. These gave notice that they would not enter the
Chamber again while the Colonel remained in the Ministry.
Fortunately, just at this time, the obnoxious Minister gave
offense to his associates of the League, by promoting several
officers without consulting them, and they were willing that
he should be dismissed.
{301}
GREECE: A. D. 1910.
Agreements for a restored Constitutional Regime.
The dismissal of Colonel Lapathiotis emboldened the party in
the Chamber which follows the lead of ex-Premier Rallis to
make some show of an independent opposition, and provoked
thereby the most arrogant reminder yet given of the
dictatorial power of the Military League. On the 2d of January
two officers from the League appeared in the Chamber, bearing
letters addressed to the Prime Minister and to the two leaders
of Opposition parties, M. Rallis and M. Theotokis, requiring
the Chamber to pass twenty-seven specified measures, besides
the pending budget, and requiring the Government to recall its
diplomatic representatives from Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and
Rome. The messengers announced that they would return at 2 p.
M. for a reply, and when they did so they were assured that
the commands received would be obeyed. A few hours later the
Premier received a fresh mandate to dismiss his Minister of
the Interior. On this, he and his colleagues attempted to
resign, but were so entreated by the King to remain and submit
to the humiliating situation, rather than bring the country to
a state of complete political wreck, that they did so,
excepting the Minister of the Interior, who withdrew.
In the succeeding four weeks, negotiations appear to have
been effected between the League and the leaders of political
parties, with the result announced as follows in a telegram
from Athens to the American Press, January 28:
"An agreement was reached to-day by the Theotokis party, the
Rallis party, and the Military League to convoke the National
Assembly for a revision of the Constitution, with the
condition that the league shall first be dissolved. The powers
of the National Assembly will be limited as to the sections of
the Constitution to be revised, and no interference with the
royal prerogatives will be permitted."
King George assented to the proposed convocation of a National
Assembly for the revision of the Constitution, though the
existing Constitution would be violated by the method of
procedure to be taken, since the choice seemed to lie between
this and a complete wreckage of constitutional government. A
Cretan leader, M. Venezelo, of high reputation for political
sagacity, came to Athens on invitation and conducted a
settlement of the affair with apparent success. The
Mavromichalis Ministry gave way to another, formed under M.
Dragoumis; a programme of constitutional changes to be laid
before the contemplated National Assembly was agreed upon; the
election of the Assembly was appointed for August next and its
meeting for September, and the dissolution of the Military
League was pledged. Such was the situation in the later days
of March, 1910.
GREEN HILLS, Capture of.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904-1905 (MAY-JANUARY).
GREY, ALBERT HENRY GEORGE, EARL:
Governor-General of Canada.
See (in this Volume)
CANADA: A. D. 1904.
GREY, SIR EDWARD:
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1905 (December), 1905-1906; and
TURKEY: A. D. 1905-1908.
GREY, SIR EDWARD:
Correspondence on American Fishing Rights
in Newfoundland waters.
See (in this Volume)
NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1905-1909.
GREY, SIR EDWARD:
On the Changed Conditions in Europe that make for Peace.
See EUROPE: A. D. 1909.
GREY, SIR EDWARD:
On the Budget of 1909 and the House of Lords.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1909 (April-December).
GROCERS’ ASSOCIATION, Dissolution of the.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1906.
GROSSCUP, JUDGE PETER S.:
Decision in the Case of the
United States v. Swift & Co., et al.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903-1906.
GROSSCUP, JUDGE PETER S.:
Opinion in Standard Oil Case.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL, &c.:
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1904-1909.
GRUITCH, GENERAL:
Head of Radical Servian Ministry.
See (in this Volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES: SERVIA: A. D. 1903.
GUANTANAMO:
Coaling and Naval Station leased to the United States.
See (in this Volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1903.
GUATEMALA.
See (in this Volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA.
GUERRA, COLONEL PINO:
Leader of Insurrection in Cuba.
See (in this Volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1906 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).
GUIANA, BRITISH: A. D. 1904.
Settlement of Brazilian boundary dispute.
See (in this Volume)
BRAZIL: A. D. 1904.
GULLY, W. C.:
Resignation of the Speakership of House of Commons.
Elevation to the Peerage.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1905 (JUNE).
GUMMERÉ, S. R.:
American Delegate to the Alegeciras Conference
on the Morocco Question.
See (in this Volume)
EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906.
GUTHRIE, GEORGE W.:
Mayor of Pittsburg.
See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
H.
HAAKON VII., King of Norway.
See (in this Volume )
NORWAY: A. D. 1902-1905.
HABIBULLAH, Ameer of Afghanistan.
See (in this Volume)
AFGHANISTAN: A. D. 1901-1904.
HAECKEL, Ernst Heinrich.
Eminent German scientist, retired from his Professorship
at Jena University on his 75th birthday, February 10, 1909.
HAGEN-HAGEN, LIEUTENANT:
Tragically ended Greenland Coast Survey.
See (in this Volume)
POLAR EXPLORATION.
HAGOPIAN, H.:
On the Turkish Revolution.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY).
HAGUE TRIBUNAL, The: A. D. 1902.
Decision of the Pious Fund Question between Mexico and
the United States.
See (in this Volume)
MEXICO: A. D. 1902 (MAY).
HAGUE TRIBUNAL, The: A. D. 1903.
Decision on Venezuela Question.
See (in this Volume)
VENEZUELA: A. D 1902-1903.
HAGUE TRIBUNAL, The:
Carnegie Gift to it of a Court House and Library.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1903.
HAGUE, The: A. D. 1907.
The Second Peace Conference.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.
HAICHENG, RUSSIAN EVACUATION OF.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).
HAKKI BEY: Grand Vizier.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (MAY-DECEMBER).
{302}
HALDANE, Richard B.:
Secretary of State for War.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906.
HALE vs. HENKEL, The case of.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905-1906.
HAMID EDDIN, Sheik of the Hadramaut:
His claims to the Caliphate, against the Sultan.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1905.
HAMLIN, Reverend Dr. Cyrus.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: TURKEY, &c.
HANKAU-SZE-CHUAN RAILWAY LOAN.
The question of American participation.
See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1904-1909.
HANSEN, Ole.
See (in this Volume)
DENMARK: A. D. 1901.
HARBIN,
KHARBIN: A. D. 1905.
Opened to all commerce.
See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1905 (DECEMBER).
HARCOURT, VERNON.
See VERNON-HARCOURT.
HARDEN, Maximilian:
The Trials of.
See (in this Volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1907-1908.
HARDIE, KEIR.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1905-1906;
LABOR ORGANIZATION: ENGLAND: A. D. 1903; and
SOCIALISM: ENGLAND.
HARRIMAN, Edward H.:
His extraordinary Accumulation and Organization of
Railway Properties.
His death.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1909.
HARRIMAN, Mrs. E. H.
Gift of land to New York for a State Park.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1909-1910.
HARVARD UNIVERSITY:
Interchanges of Professors with French and German Universities.
See (in this Volume)
EDUCATION: INTERNATIONAL INTERCHANGES.
HASSAN FEHMI EFFENDI,
Assassination of.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1909 (JANUARY-MAY).
HATSUSE,
Sinking of the.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (FEBRUARY-AUGUST).
HATTI HUMAYUN, The Turkish.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER).
HAUSA LAND.
See (in this Volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1903 (NIGERIA).
HAVANA: A. D. 1907.
Population.
See (in this Volume)
CUBA: A. D. 1907.
HAY, John:
Secretary of State.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1905, and 1905-1909.
HAY, John:
Negotiation of the Hay-Bond Reciprocity Treaty.
See NEWFOUNDLAND: A. D. 1902-1905.
HAY, John:
Negotiation of Treaty with China to open two new Ports
to Foreign Trade.
See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1903 (MAY-OCTOBER).
HAY, John:
Honorary President of Second International Conference
of American Republics.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
HAY, John:
Proclamation of his death.
See UNITED STATES: A. D. 1905 (JULY).
HAY-PAUNCEFOTE CANAL TREATY, Interoceanic.
See (in this Volume)
PANAMA CANAL: A. D. 1901-1902.
HAITI: A. D. 1901-1902.
Participation in Second International Conference of
American Republics.
See (in this Volume)
AMERICAN REPUBLICS.
HAITI: A. D. 1902.
Revolution and Civil War produced by a Blunder of Law.
Resignation of President Sam.
Election of General Nord Alexis.
An outbreak of revolution in Haiti occurred under singular
circumstances on the 12th of May, 1902. As related in a
despatch of a few days later by Mr. W F. Powell, United States
Minister to Haiti, the circumstances were these: When, in
April, 1896. General Theresias Simon Sam was elected President
of the Republic (see, under HAYTI, in Volume VI. of this
work), on the sudden death of President Hypolite, "Congress
enacted a law requiring him to enter upon the duties of the
Presidential office at once, and to remain in office until May
15, 1903. This law, it seems now," wrote Mr. Powell, "was not
constitutional, as the constitution states: ‘That upon the
death, resignation, malfeasance in office, or removal
therefrom of the President before the 15th of May (in any
year) the cabinet or council of ministers is charged with
these functions until the 15th of May, when the newly elected
President shall assume the duties of the Presidency; but if a
President should accept office or enter upon the duties of the
same prior to this time (15th of May), then his term of office
must expire on the 15th of May of the year preceding the time
that it actually expired, thus not allowing the incumbent to
remain in office the full seven years, the time for which he
was elected.’
"For some reason this provision of the constitution was not
thought of, or else forgotten, at the time General Sam was
elected. No mention was made of this section until about a
year ago, when the question was launched upon the public view
by the enemies of the Government. The more this question was
discussed the more potent it became, until it occupied the
attention of all classes to the exclusion of all other
matters. … The several political arrests and the exile of many
persons within the past two years have been on account of this
discussion, they demanding that this article of the
constitution should be literally followed, the Government, on
its part, believing that in the arrest and exile of all such
persons all discussions and agitation of this matter would
cease. But this rigor on the part of the Government produced,
instead of friends, enemies, who were daily gaining strength.
"At the several interviews I had with the President up to the
time I left for Santo Domingo (February 10) he stated that it
was his intention to remain in office until he had finished
his term (to May 15, 1903) and that he would not resign or
cease to be President prior to that time. He had also
impressed this fact upon the members of his cabinet up to May
1 of the present year, when it was learned that it was his
intention to resign at an early day." This announcement
brought a number of candidates into the field, and Mr. Powell,
on returning to Port au Prince on the 11th of May, found a
precarious situation there. He secured an interview with
President Sam the following morning, and "was informed that he
had determined to resign, that his resignation was ready to be
sent to Congress, that he was tired of this constant
agitation, and that he would leave by the French steamer then
in port for France, where he would pass the remainder of his
life in quietness and peace; that since it was the wish of the
people to have a new President he would not oppose them, but
would abide by article 93 of the national constitution, and if
the chambers did not elect a President to-day, Monday, the
country would be without a President."
{303}
One of the candidates, General Leconte, a member of the
Government about to be dissolved, "felt certain that he would
be elected, as he had sufficient votes pledged in both houses
to elect him. This news spread rapidly, the streets became
full of armed citizens wending their way toward the chambers
to prevent, forcibly if necessary, his election. At first it
was difficult to get the members together. The streets in the
neighborhood of the legislative halls were thronged with
people and the Government troops, the latter to protect the
members in case of violence. Several secret meetings of the
members were held. At last the doors were opened, and as soon
as opened every available space not occupied by the two houses
was filled by the friends and foes of General Leconte. As the
balloting was about to commence some one in the chambers fired
his revolver. In an instant shooting commenced from all parts
of the room. One or two were killed and the same number
wounded. The members all sought shelter in the most available
places they could find—under benches or desks. Others forgot
the way they entered and sought exit by means of the windows.
By this means the populace prevented the election of General
Leconte, forcibly adjourned the chambers without date, and
dispersed the members of both chambers. The Government troops
immediately retired to the palace, the arsenal, the barracks,
or the arrondissement, as it was thought that an attack would
be immediately made on each place.
"A committee of safety was at once formed to safeguard the
interests of the city, and as the news reached the other
cities of the Republic similar committees were named with like
duties. The next object was to secure the palace, arsenal, and
the Government buildings. A concerted attack was made on each
of the above places at 10 p. m., lasting about twenty minutes,
in which the Government troops were the victors. It is
supposed that in these engagements about one hundred persons
were either killed or wounded."
The next day, on the ex-President’s request, Mr. Powell, as
dean of the diplomatic corps, arranged with his associates to
escort General and Mrs. Sam, together with General Leconte, to
the steamer on which they wished to embark, and their
departure was undisturbed.
On the 26th of May a Provisional Government, with General
Boisrond Canal for its President, was established by delegates
sent from "the several sections of the Republic." Elections
for a new Chamber of Deputies were appointed to be held early
in July; though the Constitution had declared that such
elections "must occur during the first weeks in the month of
January." This gave a fine opening for future troubles.
Meantime, irregular skirmishing, preliminary to positive civil
war, was bringing all business to an end. On the 26th of July
Mr. Powell reported to Washington that civil war had been
declared. The contest for the Presidency seemed narrowed to
two candidates. General Nord Alexis, Minister of War and
Marine in the Provisional Government, and Mr. A. Firmin, whose
cause was supported by the Haytian navy, of two gunboats,
commanded by Admiral Killick. It is needless to give details
of the hostilities that ensued.
The elections were determined and the Chamber of Deputies was
organized about the 20th of August. The Deputies had then to
choose the Senatorial body, and the strife of factions among
them prevented that election until late in the year, when the
forces of the Provisional Government had achieved successes
which brought the civil war practically to an end. General
Nord Alexis, who had been campaigning for months, returned
triumphantly with his army to Port au Prince on the 14th of
December; was acclaimed President by the Army on the 17th, and
was formally elected by the National Assembly on the 21st. He
was then reported to be 85 years old.
HAITI: A. D. 1908.
Revolution once more.
Overthrow and expulsion of President Nord Alexis.
General Antoine Simon his elected successor.
The Government under President Nord Alexis was maintained for
six years, by its own unsparing use of power, it would seem,
rather than by the good will of the country. Revolutionary
projects had been crushed with prompt vigor before they had
much chance of development, until November, 1908, when one,
led by a displaced military commander, General Antoine Simon,
ran so rapid a course that it arrived at complete success on
the 2d of the following month. The aged but indomitable Nord
Alexis strove hard to resist it, even to the last inch of
fighting in his own palace; but Port au Prince rose against
him; his partisans fell away; his soldiers deserted; and
finally, on the afternoon of December 2d, he consented to be
taken on board a French training-ship, then in port. In doing
this there was difficulty in saving him from an angry city
mob. The escape of the fallen President was described in a
Port au Prince despatch to the Associated Press as follows:
"So serious was the situation that the French minister, M.
Carteron, and other foreign representatives, with members of a
specially appointed committee, forced themselves upon the
President, who finally consented to withdraw. Shouts greeted
him as he stepped to his carriage. M. Carteron, carrying the
French tri-color, threw the folds of the flag over the
shoulders of the de posed president to protect him. All along
the route the people who lined the streets shouted, jeered and
cursed the fallen President, but when the landing stage was
reached, the mob lost all restraint. The scene was tragic and
shameful. Infuriated women broke through the cordon of troops
and shrieked the coarsest insults into the very face of the
President, who strove bravely to appear undismayed. They
hurled themselves, fighting with hands and feet, against the
soldiers, who found difficulty in forcing them back. One woman
with a murderous knife, got to the President’s side and made a
sweep at his body, but the blow fell short, and, before she
could follow it with another, she was seized by a soldier. A
man struck the President a glancing blow with his fist on the
neck. Alexis, shaking his head, so, turned to M. Carteron and
said: ‘I told you your excellency.’
{304}
"To clear space, the troops fired several volleys over the
heads of the mob. For a moment, they gave way, and Alexis,
with the French colors draped about him, was bustled into a
skiff, in tow of a steam launch, his disordered suite tumbling
in after him. As the launch drew away, three Haytian gunboats
and the American warships in the harbor fired a salute to the
fallen President.
"A trunk which was left behind on the precipitate departure of
the President and his party from the wharf, was seized upon by
the rioters and broken open. It was found to contain some
$10,000 in gold and 20,000 Haytian gourdes. The specie was
scattered about and promptly pillaged."
According to a despatch of the next day, "riot and pillage
swept through the night following the flight of the fallen
President, Nord Alexis. The populace, maddened by a taste of
revolt, gave themselves over to absolute license, They looted
stores and residences and then fought among themselves over
the booty until an armed force, hastily gathered together by
General Poitevin, fired a volley into the mob and finally
drove them into hiding. In all, twelve persons were killed and
many wounded before order was restored. …
"Past 90 years of age—how many years beyond nobody knows—Nord
Alexis had faced his foes with the strength and determination
of a man in the very prime of life. To-day he said: ‘The
courageous conduct of M. Carteron (the French minister) saved
my life.’ … The President was broken-hearted over the attitude
of his people, of whose hostility he was entirely ignorant.
‘They always cheered me when I appealed in the streets,’ he
said mournfully, ‘and I have always labored for their good.’
"He protested against the ‘legend’ that he ever had shown any
enmity toward the whites, and, for the first time, expressed
his views with regard to the summary executions which took
place on March 15th last, when many men were shot to death by
order of General Leconte. He had always been convinced, he
said, that the men had been killed during an attack upon the
palace. His officials and those upon whom he depended had kept
back the truth from him.
"With regard to his destination, Nord Alexis said that he
would wait until he could be transported to Jamaica, Saint
Thomas or Martinique."
General Simon and his victorious army of rebellion entered the
capital on the 5th. Some degree of order had been restored by
a Committee of Safety, under ex-President Legitime, but fresh
strifes were imminent between rival candidates for the vacant
presidency. Simon, with his military following, brushed them
aside, and obtained a unanimous election by the Haitian
Congress on the 17th, assuming office as President on the
20th.
HAITI: A. D. 1909.
The Haitian People.
The splendid industry of the Women.
The curse of the country in its Military Government.
"Four-fifths of the Haitians—the peasantry of the country,
that is to say—are hard working, peaceable country people.
These four-fifths of 3,000,000 are entirely negro in race, and
probably represent a mingling of West African types from
Senegambia, Dahomé, and the Congo. It is a race which
exhibits, away from the towns, a fine physical development;
its skin colour is much darker and the negro type more
pronounced than in the United States. … The women are the best
part of the nation They are splendid, unremitting toilers. In
the face of all discouragements with, which a bad Government
clouds their existence the women of Haiti almost remind one of
certain patient types of ant or termite, who, as fast as you
destroy their labour of months or days, hasten to repair it
with unslacking energy.
"The curse of Haiti from the day she established her
independence in 1804 to the present time is the tyrannical and
wasteful Government of the military party. … Scarcely a
President in the history of Haiti has not been a military man
and the favourite leader, for the time being, of the major
portion of the army. … That President Antoine Simon will
follow in the bloody footsteps of all his Presidential
predecessors is improbable. He is a man of obviously kindly
nature, with a record of 22 years’ essentially clement
government of the great southern province of Haiti; but he is
an old man of imperfect education, and though he may turn out
a complete surprise, yet so far he has done nothing to improve
the conditions of political elections. The whole power of the
country is still entirely based on the soldiers."
_Sir Harry Johnston,
in The London Times, April 13, 1909._
HEARST, William R.:
Candidacy for Mayor of New York.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1905 and 1909.
HEARST, William R.:
Candidacy for Governor of New York State.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1906-1910.
HEDERVARY MINISTRY.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1902-1903.
HENEY, FRANCIS J.
See (in this Volume)
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT: SAN FRANCISCO,
and UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903-1906.
HENRIQUES, CAMPOS.
See (in this Volume)
PORTUGAL: A. D. 1906-1909.
HENRY PHIPPS INSTITUTE.
See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH: TUBERCULOSIS.
HENRY, Prince of Prussia:
Visit to the United States.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902 (FEBRUARY-MARCH).
HEPBURN ACT.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1870-1908, and 1906-1909.
HERMANN, BINGER:
U. S. Commissioner of the Land Office, involved in Land Frauds.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903-1906.
HERO FUNDS.
See (in this Volume)
CARNEGIE HERO FUNDS.
HERREROS, The.
See (in this Volume)
AFRICA: A. D. 1904-1905, and
GERMANY: A. D. 1906-1907.
HERRING, A. M.
See (in this Volume)
SCIENCE AND INVENTION, RECENT: AERONAUTICS.
HERVÉ, Gustave:
Apostle of Anti-Militarism in France.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1909.
HERZEGOVINA.
See (in this Volume)
BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES.
HETCH HETCHY PROJECT, The.
See (in this Volume)
SAN FRANCISCO: A. D. 1901-1909.
HICKS-BEACH, SIR MICHAEL:
Retirement from the English Chancellorship of the Exchequer.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1902 (JULY).
HIGHBINDER ASSOCIATIONS, CHINESE.
See (in this Volume)
SAN FRANCISCO: A. D. 1902.
{305}
HILL, David Jayne:
Commissioner Plenipotentiary to the Second Peace Conference.
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907.
HILL, James J.:
His connection with the Northern Securities Case.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1905.
HILMI PASHA.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1902-1903; 1908 (JULY-DECEMBER), and after.
HINDU DISAFFECTION.
See (in this Volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1907-1909.
HINDU IMMIGRATION:
The Resistance to in South Africa, Australia, and elsewhere.
See (in this Volume)
RACE PROBLEMS.
HISGEN, Thomas L.:
Nominated for President of the United States.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1908 (APRIL-NOVEMBER).
HITCHCOCK, Ethan Allen:
Secretary of the Interior.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1905, 1903-1906, and 1905-1909.
HITCHCOCK, Frank H.:
Postmaster-General.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (MARCH).
HOFF, JACOBUS HENRICUS VAN’T.
See (in this Volume)
NOBEL PRIZES.
HOHENLOHE, Prince.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1905-1906.
"HOLDING COMPANY," The:
Decision of its Illegality as a method of Combination
between Corporations.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1901-1905.
HOLLAND.
See (in this Volume and Volume III)
NETHERLANDS.
HOLSTEIN, Herr von:
On the German "Navy Fever."
See (in this Volume)
WAR, THE REVOLT AGAINST: A. D. 1907-1909.
HOLSTEIN-LEDREBORG MINISTRY.
See (in this Volume)
DENMARK: A. D. 1905-1909.
HOLY SEE.
See (in this Volume and Volume IV)
PAPACY.
"HOLY WAR," IN ARABIA.
See (in this Volume)
TURKEY: A. D. 1903-1905.
HOMEL, JEWISH MASSACRE AT.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1901-1904.
HONDURAS.
See (in this Volume)
CENTRAL AMERICA.
HORUP, M.
See (in this Volume)
DENMARK: A. D. 1901.
HOTTENTOTS, REVOLT OF THE.
See (in this Volume)
GERMANY: A. D. 1906-1907.
HOURS OF LABOR.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1902;
GERMANY: A. D. 1908.
Also,
LABOR PROTECTION: HOURS OF LABOR; and
LABOR REMUNERATION: WAGES AND COST OF LIVING.
HOUSING AND TOWN-PLANNING ACT.
See (in this Volume)
SOCIAL BETTERMENT: ENGLAND: A. D. 1909.
HSIHOYEN, BATTLE OF.
See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1904 (JULY-SEPTEMBER).
HSUAN-TUNG:
Child-Emperor of China.
See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1908 (NOVEMBER).
HUDSON BAY REGION: A. D. 1903-1904.
Canadian measures to establish Sovereignty over Land and Sea.
See (in this Volume )
CANADA: A. D. 1903-1904.
HUDSON BAY REGION:
Projected Railway from the Canadian Northwest.
See (in this Volume)
RAILWAYS: CANADA: A. D. 1908-1909.
HUDSON-FULTON COMMEMORATION.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1909.
HUDSON TUNNELS.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1900-1909.
HUGHES, Charles Evans:
Counsel of the Legislative Joint Committee to Investigate
Life Insurance Companies in New York.
See (in this Volume)
INSURANCE, LIFE.
HUGHES, Charles Evans:
Governor of the State of New York.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1906-1910.
Also,
ELECTIVE FRANCHISE: UNITED STATES, and PUBLIC UTILITIES.
HUGHES, Charles Evans:
On the Proposed Income Tax Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (JULY).
HUMPHREY, Judge:
Immunity Decision in "Beef Trust" Case.
See (in this Volume)
COMBINATIONS, INDUSTRIAL: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1903-1906.
HUNGARY.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
HYDE, Dr. Douglas:
Founder of Gaelic League.
See (in this Volume)
IRELAND: A. D. 1893-1907.
HYDE, HENRY B.:
Founder of the Equitable Life Assurance Society.
See (in this Volume)
INSURANCE, LIFE.
HYDE, James Hazen:
Relations to the Equitable Life Assurance Society.
See (in this Volume)
INSURANCE, LIFE.
I.
ICELAND:
Its Ancient Claims to Nationality.
Within the last few years the Icelanders have been asserting
their ancient right to a national life of their own so
seriously that the King of Denmark has exerted himself to
soothe their discontent with but partial success. For many
historical reasons Iceland ought to have an independent
standing among the European states. For some of those reasons
its people seem fairly entitled to recognition as the foremost
representatives of the old Norse or Scandinavian race. Their
ancestors were men of the best blood of Norway, who quitted
that country in the ninth century and took possession of the
arctic island, because they would not submit to the despotism
established by Harold the Fairhaired. That they took with them
the best culture of their race and time is proved by the fact
that almost everything we know of the old Norse literature,
and of the mythology and history embedded in it, was preserved
by their pens. Learning was cherished and cultivated among
them from the first: and they had the capacity and the spirit
for self-government from the first. Before the end of the
tenth century they had adopted a republican constitution and
founded a commonwealth which endured for about 300 years. This
antedated the rise of the city republics of Italy and the free
cantons of the Swiss by one or two centuries at the least.
The Icelandic republic was destroyed at last by feuds among
its leading families, which invited Norwegian intervention
from time to time, and subjected the island to the parent
kingdom in the end. Late in the fourteenth century the three
Scandinavian kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark were
joined in a union which did not endure.
{306}
Its dissolution left Norway, with Iceland as a dependency,
attached to Denmark, and that connection was maintained till
1814. Norway was then transferred from the Danish to the
Swedish crown; but Iceland was still kept as a part of the
dominion of the Danish King. Norway regained national
distinctness and independence in 1905, and now it is to be
hoped that Iceland will have its just turn.
The island has never been governed as a mere province of
Denmark, but always under its own laws. Its old representative
assembly, the Althing, was suspended during most of the first
half of the last century, but revived in 1845 as a merely
consultative assembly. As such it voiced very steadily the
claim of the Icelanders to more of autonomy and political
distinctness than their Danish lord was willing to yield. In
1874, however, at the 1,000th anniversary of the Icelandic
settlement, he granted a constitution which reinvested the
Althing with legislative powers, and met the wishes of the
island in other important ways; but not so far as to produce
content.
IDAHO: A. D. 1905-1907.
Murder of ex-Governor Steunenberg.
Trial and acquittal of Haywood.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1899-1907.
IDE, HENRY CLAY:
Governor-General of the Philippine Islands.
See (in this Volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1906-1907.
IGNATIEFF, COUNT ALEXEI:
Assassination.
See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1906.
ILLINOIS: A. D. 1899.
Enactment of the first Juvenile Court Law.
See (in this Volume)
CHILDREN, UNDER THE LAW: AS OFFENDERS.
IMAM, ALI.
See (in this Volume)
INDIA: A. D. 1907-1909.
----------IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: Start--------
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: Australia: A. D. 1909.
The needs of the country.
The attitude of the people toward Immigration.
The difficulties.
Speaking at a dinner in his honor, given in London, after his
return from five years of service as Governor-General of
Australia, Lord Northcote touched on what he described as "the
Aaron’s rod of all political questions in Australia, which, if
it does not swallow up the others, at all events the others
depend upon it,"—meaning the increase of Australia’s
population. As to the attitude of Australia to the immigration
question he said: "No doubt, from time to time certain
over-zealous officials have made mistakes which have
prejudiced Australia in the eyes of the British public, but I
do not believe that anything in the nature of a fixed desire
to keep out men who are able to sustain themselves by their
labour has ever existed. Of course, Australia has her number
of unemployables, and is not prepared to import more from the
old country. Then I come to the very important question of
coloured immigration, and that is a question we should look at
from an Australian as well as from a British point of view. …
"Suppose Australia or Canada confronted by the presence of a
large number of Asiatics, men of ability enough to hold their
own, men who, if they come there, come to stay, and it is
quite conceivable from an Australian point of view that if
they do not rigidly secure themselves against the possibility
of being swamped by Asiatic labour, they may be presented with
a problem even more serious than is the great negro question
in the United States. I say this to show that there is more to
be said for the Australian point of view than some people are
inclined to suppose. Of course a great deal depends upon
whether the huge northern territory can be populated by white
men. Upon that I hesitate to pronounce a definite opinion. I
believe it is possible for a white man, if he is steady,
sober, and careful, to colonize for a time this great tropical
land; but it is a very serious matter how far the climate is
suitable for women and children, and whether we can hope from
generation to generation that a healthy and virile race can
continue to live and breed in that climate. The territory is
over half a million square miles in extent, and the white
population is well under 2,000 people. …
"There is plenty of land all through Australia for men who
are willing to go there and will be steady and sober and work
hard. I have been North, South, East, and West. I can claim
for myself the credit that I have travelled fairly hard, and I
have seen in every State of Australia plenty of land available
for close settlement. If the great landowners are disinclined
to sell their holdings—and I quite acknowledge that a great
deal of the best land in Australia is in comparatively few
hands—at all events the State Governments have very large
reserves of land; and by the application of irrigation and
other methods of scientific farming they could compete on even
terms at least with these squatters, and they could turn these
waste lands into fertile country fit for settlers. I am very
glad to think that both in New South Wales and Victoria very
large irrigation works are in progress and will be completed
in a very short time, adding enormously to the acreage of land
fit for cultivation; and I say deliberately and advisedly, I
care not for reports of Commissions or individuals, that there
is land and to spare for generations for men who are ready to
undertake the cultivation."
A correspondent of the London _Times_, writing from
Sydney in January, 1909, on the subject of the vast quantity
of fertile land in Australia that is locked up by private
owners in vast sheep runs, to the exclusion of settlement, had
this to say: "You may take it as an axiom that immigration to
Australia will do no good till the fertile lands are thrown
open. And a very large proportion of the closed land is
controlled from London, either by ex-Australians who live
there and draw their income from Australian property, or by
big British companies. … It is necessary to warn seriously
shareholders and directors of the big companies that they must
put pressure on their officials out here, or prepare to have
more drastic pressure forced on themselves. At present, those
officials are often responsible for Australian dislike of the
absentee company."
{307}
In another letter to the same paper it was said: "Somehow or
other the locked-up lands must be opened for agricultural
uses. No one now doubts that, and only a few owners, usually
either absentees or corporations, pretend to doubt it. The
Labour recipe is a Federal land tax on estates over £5,000 in
value, of such a kind that fair use of the land will produce
profit on which the tax will be a mere fleabite, while it will
be a serious charge on fertile land that is used only for
sheep runs. The proposed tax is to be Federal simply because
there is no hope of passing the requisite Bill through several
of the State Upper Houses; otherwise it is more properly a
State concern. Now what we have to remember is that this is
not only Labour’s remedy. I believe it would be quite possible
to carry such a proposal in the present Federal Parliament, so
definitely has public opinion swung round against the big
owners who keep their land idle. If it is not carried next
session, it will be because Mr. Deakin gave his word two years
ago that he would not introduce the subject in this
Parliament; but Mr. Deakin’s attitude is this—that he wishes
the States would do it, that he does not consider this
Parliament has any mandate to legislate for it, but that he
personally has always favoured such a tax, and, if the
States take no steps in that direction, he will support, or
even propose, the measure when it has been submitted to the
country at a general election. It is useless, therefore, for
any one to decry the tax as merely a Labour idea, a
‘Socialistic’ nostrum. The support given it in Australia is
far wider than that. And, apart from the many who advocate it
as the best remedy for the present land-hunger, there is an
increasing body of electors who are being forced into
supporting it because no other remedies seem practicable."
The attitude of the Australian Labor Party on the inseparable
immigration and land questions was stated very clearly and
succinctly in a letter to the London _Times_, dated at
Newcastle, New South Wales, June 30, 1909, by a member of the
Party, Frank Pittock, who signs himself "a Magistrate of the
Territory." He writes: "We cannot at present obtain land for
our own genuine land-seekers, skilled in the peculiar
requirements of pastoral and agricultural work on the
Australian soil. We certainly are unable to give our own
unemployed a chance on the land. Any importations of labour
from over the seas merely serve to render more distressful the
unfortunate position of the colonial out-of-works. On the
other hand, we do now, and always have, welcomed new arrivals
who may be able, in the near future, to effectively augment
our productive wealth. The party fully recognizes the need of
population—of the right sort. We have vast empty spaces all
over the continent, now grazing grounds for sheep, yet
eminently suitable for intense settlement. The Australian
Labour party seeks the support, at the forthcoming general
election, of all who believe, as does your own Australian
Correspondent, that the satisfying of the earth-hunger of our
people is the great outstanding need of the day. Can we but be
authorized to force the huge monopolists to surrender portions
of their holdings we shall have, not only land for our own
landless, but land and to spare for those who seek it from the
British Isles. … We dare not, as a conscientious and
humanitarian party, invite our kith and kin from other parts
to come here now. We should be traitors to the Empire,
betrayers of the race, if we endorsed in any way the attitude
of those who seek, apparently, to flood this fair land with
any population at all, regardless of the evil consequences to
the immigrants themselves, and alike regardless of the grave
injustice thereby done to native-born landless and, in many
cases, at present, work-seeking Australians."
A Press despatch from Sydney, October 30, made the following
announcement: "Under the closer settlement amendment Bill,
which is now before the Legislative Council of New South
Wales, the Government will be empowered by proclamation to
earmark estates in the vicinity of towns which might impede
settlement. When such estates are of the value of £10,000 and
upwards the Government may agree with the owners to subdivide
them on terms and areas to be agreed upon, so as to ensure
_bona fide_ settlement. If the owners fulfil the
agreement, the proclamation will be cancelled; if the owners
refuse to subdivide within five years, the Government reserves
the power to resume at the value on the date of proclamation."
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: Brazil: 1908-1909.
Increasing Influx.
"During the year [1908] 112,234 persons came into the country,
of which 17,539 were visitors and 94,695 immigrants. This
shows a notable increase of 26,908 immigrants, or about forty
per cent. over the number registered in 1907. Of these 74,999
came at their own expense and 11,109 at the cost of the Union.
The increase continues this year, as will be seen from the
record of the Port of Rio de Janeiro alone, which received
13,580 immigrants during the first quarter of this year, as
compared with 8,607 in 1908 and 5,943 in 1907. In spite of the
small grant allotted to this service, it has been conducted
with the greatest efficiency. The Department for the Peopling
of the Soil has effected the location of immigrants in 26
colonies, situated respectively in the States of Espirito
Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Geraes, São Paulo, Parana, Santa
Catharina, and Rio-Grande-do-Sul, eleven of which are directly
under the supervision of the Union. All the nucleus colonies
founded last year enjoy unrestricted prosperity, and it has
been even necessary to acquire neighbouring lands in order to
satisfy the constant demand for more land on the part of the
families settled."
_President’s Message to Congress,
May 3, 1909._
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: Canada: A. D. 1896-1909.
The "American Invasion" of the Northwest.
Immigration of the last decade.
See (in this Volume )
CANADA: A. D. 1896-1909.
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: England: A. D. 1905-1909.
The Aliens Act.
Restrictions on the admission of Aliens.
A new policy.
Until 1905, England offered practically an open door to the
aliens who sought either a permanent home or a temporary
residence on her island soil. Little scrutiny was given to
them and almost no restriction on their coming in. But some
years before that date a growing criticism of such
unconditioned hospitality was begun.
{308}
In 1888 it induced the appointment of a Select Committee of
the House of Commons "to inquire into the laws existing in the
United States and elsewhere on the subject of the immigration
of destitute aliens, and the extent and effect of such
immigration into the United Kingdom, and to report whether it
is desirable to impose any, and if so, what, restrictions on
such immigration." The Commission reported in 1889 that it
thought "the alien population was not numerous enough to
create alarm," and that it was "not prepared to recommend
legislation at present," but saw "the possibility of such
legislation becoming necessary in the future." Several
proposals of restrictive measures were urged without success
in the course of the next dozen years, and, in 1902, a Royal
Commission was appointed, "to inquire into—
(1) the character and extent of the evils which are attributed
to the unrestricted immigration of aliens, especially in the
Metropolis;
(2) the measures which have been adopted for the restriction
and control of alien immigration in foreign countries and in
British colonies."
The Commission produced an elaborate report in 1903
(Parliamentary Papers, Cd. 1741). Reviewing the hospitality of
the past, it found that the migrant aliens of former
generations had made the English people "their debtors"; but
they were of a different stamp from the immigrants of the
present movement, which "may be said to have begun about 1880,
and is drawn mainly from the Jewish inhabitants of Eastern
Europe." The causes of this recent exodus have been partly
economic and partly due to oppressive measures; and the result
of the Commission’s investigation of it was the expressed
opinion that "in respect of certain classes of immigrants,
especially those arriving from Eastern Europe, it is necessary
in the interests of the State generally, and of certain
localities in particular, that the entrance of such immigrants
into this country and their right of residence here should be
placed under conditions and regulations coming within that
right of interference which every country possesses to control
the entrance of foreigners into it. Such regulations should,
in our opinion," the report went on to say, "be made in order
to prevent so far as possible this country being burdened with
the presence of ‘undesirable aliens’ and to provide for their
repatriation in certain cases.
"But we think that the greatest evils produced by the presence
of the alien immigrants here are the overcrowding caused by
them in certain districts of London, and the consequent
displacement of the native population. There seems little
likelihood of being able to remedy these great evils by the
enforcement of any law applicable to the native and alien
population alike. We therefore think that special regulations
should be made for the purpose of preventing aliens at their
own will choosing their residence within districts already so
overcrowded that any addition to dwellers within it must
produce most injurious results. On this point the Commission
recommended specifically that if it be found that the
immigration of aliens into any area has substantially
contributed to any overcrowding, and that it is expedient that
no further newly-arrived aliens should become residents in
such area, the same may be declared prohibited area.
"We are also of opinion that efforts should be made to rid
this country of the presence of alien criminals (and other
objectionable characters)."
An Act embodying substantially the recommendations of the
Commission passed Parliament in 1905. Both the Act and the
administration of it have been criticised since, as lacking
stringency. Its working was reviewed at considerable length in
_The Times_ of February 9, 1909 which made the following
statements, among others, on the subject:
"The Act, as now administered, does not subject all alien
immigrants, or even all steerage immigrants, to inspection. To
begin with, the regulation of alien immigration is confined,
practically, to the traffic between the United Kingdom and
ports in Europe or within the Mediterranean Sea."
In fact, according to _The Times_, "the vast majority of
aliens are not affected by the Act. A foreigner may enter this
country unchallenged—If he comes from an ‘extra-European’
port (with some exceptions); if he is a cabin passenger; if he
is an exempted second-class passenger; if he is a
transmigrant; if he is a passenger in a ship containing fewer
than 21 ‘alien steerage passengers.’
"Then also, though nominally a subject for inspection, he is
not called upon to satisfy the full requirements of the Act,
if he is proceeding to a destination outside the United
Kingdom; if he holds a return ticket; if he is a seaman; if he
is fleeing from religious or political persecution."
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: Germany: A. D. 1904-1908.
Remarkable decrease of Emigration.
"German emigration has dwindled so steadily and rapidly that
at present it would seem to have reached the low-water mark in
its downward trend. A glance at the official statistics of
emigration will indicate the remarkable extent of this
retrogression. In 1852, Germans, to the number of 145,918, and
in 1854, to the number of 215,009, went to the United States
alone. In 1872, just after the unification of the Empire, the
grand total of German emigration amounted to 128,152; in 1873,
to 110,438; in 1881, to 220,902; in 1882, to 203,585 persons.
During the years succeeding 1882 up to 1892, the figures, in
the average, still surpassed 100,000, but since then they have
shown a notable falling off. Thus only 22,309 in 1900; 22,073
in 1901; 32,098 in 1902; 36,310 in 1903; 27,984 in 1904—were
recorded as having gone from Germany to lands beyond the sea.
"This retrogressive tendency appears the more surprising when
it is remembered that Germany’s population, mainly as a result
of the excess of births over deaths, but partly through its
inland migration, has, since the foundation of the Empire,
increased at an average annual rate of over half a million,
during recent years at the still higher rate of 800,000 per
annum. The cause for this seeming anomaly lies in the
extraordinary economical development of Germany during the
last decade, in the consequent steady improvement of the
social status of its laboring classes, brought about by a
progressive rise in wages, and in the elimination, thereby, of
one of the strongest incentives to emigration in former days."
_Baron Speck von Sternburg,
The Phantom Peril of German Emigration and
South American Settlements
(North American Review, May, 1906)._
{309}
Of the emigrants from Germany in 1908, the United States
Consul-General reported that they numbered only 19,880, being
11,816 less than in 1907.
"From 1897 to 1907 the yearly mean average was 27,526, or 0.47
per cent. of the population. Altogether since 1871 the German
Empire has lost only 2,750,000 people by emigration, or as
many people as can be made good in four years by the excess of
births over deaths."
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: Italy: A. D. 1908.
Great falling off in the Movement of Emigration.
As reported in a Press despatch from Rome, in June, 1909, the
statistics of 1908 showed a marked falling off in Italian
emigration. "In 1907 the total number of emigrants was
704,675; in 1908 it was only 486,674. The most notable
reduction is in the number of emigrants to the United States,
which has fallen from 298,124 in 1907 to 131,501 in 1908. This
chiefly affects Southern Italy, the Abruzzi, Campania,
Calabria, Basilicata, and Sicily; the northern emigration,
which for the most part is directed towards European
countries, is also diminished, but in a less proportion.
Unfortunately, this change is not due to more favourable
labour conditions in Italy, but to a smaller demand for labour
in North America. The number of emigrants to Argentina has
slightly increased from 78,493 to 80,699; but the great market
for Italian labour, the United States, is, to judge from the
figures of this year as well as last year, surely and
irretrievably growing smaller."
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: Peru: A. D. 1906.
Decree for the Encouragement of Immigration.
The following decree was promulgated by President Pardo the
10th of August, 1906:
"First.
The State will provide third-class passages for the natives of
Europe and America who may wish to introduce industrial or
private enterprises, provided that they fulfill the following
conditions:
(_a_) That they are from 16 to 50 years of age, if they
are males, and from 10 to 40 if they are females, fulfilling
the conditions of morality and health laid down in the rules
now in force.
(_b_) That they come to engage in agriculture, in mining,
or in other industries, or to devote themselves to these
occupations for account of colonization, immigration, or
irrigation enterprises.
"Second.
The payment of the passages will be made through the consuls
of the Republic in the ports of shipment in view of the orders
cabled by the ministry of fomento, to which office must be
presented in writing the request of the interested parties for
such payment, indicating at the same time the number of
immigrants, the agricultural estate or industrial
establishment to which they are destined, and declaring
themselves obliged to provide lodging, board, and medical
attendance for the immigrants from the port of landing to the
place of destination.
"Third.
The consuls of the Republic, on receipt of the order from the
minister of fomento, shall make the payment of the passages to
the steamer companies direct, with previous personal and
individual evidence that the immigrants fulfill the conditions
set forth in Article 1 of this decree, and for this purpose
they shall give a certificate to each immigrant, which shall
be collected by the maritime authorities of the port of
landing and afterwards forwarded to the ministry of fomento.
"Fourth.
A general register of immigrants shall be opened in the
agricultural section of the ministry of fomento, in accordance
with the models and instructions obtained from that
department."
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1868-1908.
Chinese Exclusion Laws vs. Treaties with China.
See (in this Volume)
RACE PROBLEMS: UNITED STATES: A. D. 1868-1900, and 1905-1908.
IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: A. D. 1905-1909.
National Conference of 1905.
The New Immigration Law.
Excluded Classes.
Congressional Commission to investigate Immigration.
Its Preliminary Report.
Information for Immigrants.
Measures for distributing them.
Backward turn of the tide in 1908.
At a National Conference on the subject of Immigration, held
at New York in December, 1905, under the auspices of the
National Civic Federation, the Commissioner-General of
Immigration, Mr. Frank P. Sargent, presented some facts of the
immigration of the preceding statistical year which claimed
very grave consideration. During the twelve months ending June
30 there had been 1,026,499 arrivals in this country, and of
this number seven hundred and seventy-seven thousand, or 76
per cent., settled in six States—New York, Pennsylvania,
Massachusetts, Illinois, New Jersey, and Ohio. New York
received over three hundred and fifteen thousand, while the
West received only forty three thousand; Pennsylvania received
over two hundred and ten thousand, while the South received
only forty-six thousand. Fifty-seven thousand came to New
Jersey, while North Carolina’s share was one hundred and
eighty-three. These figures gave point to Mr. Sargent’s
statement that the immigrants go where their friends are.
Their only sources of information concerning this country are
the agents of the transportation companies and their friends
who have come here before. The resulting lack of knowledge
concerning those parts of the country in which they are most
needed is the chief cause of the congestion in the large
cities and the more densely populated States which is one of
the most serious aspects of the immigration problem.
Nearly twelve thousand immigrants were refused admission
during the year, of whom eight thousand were paupers, two
thousand diseased, and one thousand brought in violation of
the contract labour law. "It is right," said Mr. Sargent,
"that they should be denied admission, wrong that they ever
should have been started from home."
In the new Immigration Law enacted by Congress in February,
1907, provision was made for giving information to immigrants,
after their landing in the country, such as may guide them in
the choice of their place of settlement. It authorized the
Commissioner-General of Immigration to establish a Division of
Information, the duty of which shall be "to promote a
beneficial distribution of aliens admitted into the United
States among the several States and Territories desiring
immigration." To which end "correspondence shall be had with
the proper officials of the States and Territories, and said
division shall gather from all available sources useful
information regarding the resources, products, and physical
characteristics of each State and Territory, and shall publish
such information in different languages and distribute the
publications among all admitted aliens who may ask for such
information at the immigrant stations of the United States and
to such other persons as may desire the same." Agents
appointed by any State or Territory to represent to arriving
immigrants the inducements it can offer to them are to have
perfect freedom and opportunity to do so.
{310}
For checking the immigration of prohibited classes of aliens
at the foreign starting-points of their journey to America,
instead of at the landing places on this side of the ocean,
the new law only lays more rigid restrictions and heavier
penalties on the transportation companies, to make them
exercise a more careful discrimination in their acceptance of
passengers. It adds several classes to the former list of
aliens to be excluded from admission to the United States. The
list now reads: "All idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded persons,
epileptics, insane persons, and persons who have been insane
within five years previous; persons who have had two or more
attacks of insanity at any time previously; paupers; persons
likely to become a public charge; professional beggars;
persons afflicted with tuberculosis or with a loathsome or
dangerous contagious disease; persons not comprehended within
any of the foregoing excluded classes who are found to be and
are certified by the examining surgeon as being mentally or
physically defective, such mental or physical defect being of
a nature which may affect the ability of such alien to earn a
living; persons who have been convicted of or admit having
committed a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving
moral turpitude; polygamists, or persons who admit their
belief in the practice of polygamy, anarchists, or persons who
believe in or advocate the overthrow by force or violence of
the Government of the United States, or of all government, or
of all forms of law, or the assassination of public officials:
prostitutes, or women or girls coming into the United States
for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral
purpose; persons who procure or attempt to bring in
prostitutes or women or girls for the purpose of prostitution
or for any other immoral purpose,"—together with contract
laborers, so called, assisted immigrants, and children under
sixteen years of age unaccompanied by one or both of their
parents.
The new law created a Commission to investigate the subject of
immigration and to report its findings and recommendations to
Congress. The Commission to be composed of three Senators,
three Representatives, and three persons to be appointed by
the President. A preliminary report from this Commission was
presented to Congress on the 1st of March, 1909. This
indicated no more than the progress that had been made in a
most exhaustive investigation, which probably would require
the greater part of another year to carry it to completion. It
was covering every phase of the immigration question,
including Oriental aliens and other excluded classes, peonage,
charity among immigrants, white slave traffic, conditions of
steerage, anthropology, congestion in large cities, alien
criminality, competition of immigrants, school inquiries,
administration of the immigration laws, distribution of
immigrants, and other questions. In its work the Commission
had employed 198 persons, of whom 82 were in Washington, 2 in
New York, 2 in San Francisco, 92 in field work, and 20 in
special lines of inquiry.
The preliminary report of the Commission indicates that the
present provisions of law for the exclusion of undesirable
persons are stronger in theory than they are effective in
practice, and that thousands of very undesirable immigrants
enter the country every year. The Commission expresses a
confident expectation of finding means of prevention that will
be effective. It is conducting an inquiry of great importance
into the subject of alien criminality. The higher criminal
courts of New York city are keeping records, at its request,
in detail, of each person convicted of crime, and it is
intended that a study of foreign-born criminals, and criminals
of the second generation, will be made in that city. The
investigation, however, is not confined to the larger cities.
The Division of Information in the Department of Commerce and
Labor which the new Immigration Law provided for was organized
with Mr. Terence V. Powderly, former Commissioner-General of
Immigration, as its Chief. In July, 1909, there was an
announcement of its undertaking to bring about coöperation
with the Governors of States and Territories, in organized
measures to accomplish a better distribution through the
country of the foreigners that come to it.
Dr. L. Pierce Clark has lately called attention to the fact
that the increase of immigration into the United States has
reached the point of making the influx of aliens the principal
source of population, and that "its character has changed so
fundamentally that it has assumed an entirely new relation to
American social problems. Up to 1900 the average annual
immigration had not exceeded one-half of one per cent of the
population of the United States, and the races which had made
the first settlement in the country were still contributing
more than 75 per cent. of the whole number of arrivals. By
1901 the new immigration had fairly started, the English,
Irish, German, and Scandinavian had been supplanted by
Hebrews, Slavs, and Italians, and the impetus had been
received which, four years later, was to carry immigration
past the million-a-year mark. More than one-fifth of all the
immigrants who have come to this country have arrived since
1900, and, with the changed source of immigration, a
remarkable transformation in the composition of our
foreign-born population is in progress."
The industrial depression of 1907, however, produced evidence
that much of this later immigration has not been for permanent
settlement; that the facilitation and cheapening of travel
have brought about extensive movements of people, from
southern and southeastern Europe, especially, who come to
America only to earn and save a little fund which suffices for
a comfortable remainder of life in their own land. The check
to such earning which occurred in 1907 turned the tide of
migration instantly back from America to Europe. According to
statistics prepared by Mr. Watchorn, the late
Commissioner-General of Immigration, the excess of departures
over arrivals at the port of New York, in the half year from
January 1 to July 1, 1908, was 129,511. In the whole fiscal
year that ended June 30, 1908, the departures from New York
were 631,458; the arrivals 689,474; showing the gain of
population to the country that year from incomers through the
port of New York to have been only 58,016, even if all became
permanent inhabitants.
See, also (in this Volume)
RACE PROBLEMS, AND CANADA.
----------IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION: End--------
{311}
IMPERIAL CONFERENCE.
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1907.
IMPERIAL PRESS CONFERENCE, The.
See (in this Volume)
BRITISH EMPIRE: A. D. 1909 (JUNE).
INCOME TAX:
Proposed amendment to the U. S. Constitution.
See (in this Volume)
UNITED STATES: A. D. 1909 (JULY).
INDEMNITY FOR THE BOXER RISING:
Remittance of part of it by the United States.
See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1901-1908.
INDEPENDENCE LEAGUE.
See (in this Volume)
NEW YORK CITY: A. D. 1905, and
NEW YORK STATE: A. D. 1906-1910.
INDEPENDENCE PARTY, or KOSSUTH PARTY.
See (in this Volume)
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: A. D. 1902-1903, and 1904.
INDEPENDENT FILIPINO CHURCH.
See (in this Volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1902.
INDEPENDENT LABOR PARTY, BRITISH.
See (in this Volume)
ENGLAND: A. D. 1903, and 1905-1906; also,
SOCIALISM: ENGLAND.
INDEPENDENTS.
See (in this Volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1907.
INDEPENDISTAS.
See (in this Volume)
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: A. D. 1907.
INDETERMINATE SENTENCES.
See (in this Volume)
CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY.
----------INDIA: Start--------
INDIA: A. D. 1902-1903.
Ravages of the Bubonic Plague.
See (in this Volume)
PUBLIC HEALTH: BUBONIC PLAGUE.
INDIA: A. D. 1902-1904.
Forced opening of Tibet to trade.
The mission and expedition of Colonel Younghusband.
See (in this Volume)
TIBET: A. D. 1902-1904.
INDIA: A. D. 1903.
The question of Indian Labor in South Africa.
See (in this Volume)
SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1903.
INDIA: A. D. 1903 (January).
Great Durbar at Delhi.
A great _Durbar_ or reception was held at Delhi, on the
first of January, 1903, by the Viceroy and by the Duke and
Duchess of Connaught, specially deputed to represent their
majesties the Emperor and Empress of India. About 100 ruling
chiefs were in attendance, and the visitors drawn by the
spectacle were estimated to number 173,000.
INDIA: A. D. 1903-1908.
Hostility in the Transvaal to British Indian Immigration.
See (in this Volume)
RACE PROBLEMS: SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1903-1908.
INDIA: A. D. 1904-1909.
Coöperative Industrial Movement.
See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: INDIA.
INDIA: A. D. 1905 (April).
Terrific earthquake in the Punjab and United Provinces.
See (in this Volume)
EARTHQUAKES: INDIA: A. D. 1905.
INDIA: A. D. 1905 (August).
Resignation of Lord Curzon.
Announcement of the resignation of the Viceroyalty by Lord
Curzon was made August 21. The immediate cause of his action
was understood to be the refusal of the Home Government to
approve his nomination of an officer, General Barrow, whom he
wished to have placed on the Viceroy’s Council. But friction
between Lord Curzon and the Commander-in-Chief in India, Lord
Kitchener, over questions of military administration and the
authority belonging to their respective offices had been
troublesome for some time past, and the Viceroy had seemed to
regard the attitude of the government at home as more
favorable to Lord Kitchener than to himself.
INDIA: A. D. 1905 (August).
Agreement concerning India between Great Britain and Japan.
See (in this Volume)
Japan: A. D. 1905 (August).
INDIA: A. D. 1905-1908.
The Starving Poverty of the Mass of the People.
"Suppose we divide the past century into quarters, or periods
of twenty-five years each. In the first quarter there were
five famines, with an estimated loss of life of 1,000,000.
During the second quarter of the century were two famines,
with an estimated mortality of 500,000. During the third
quarter there there were six famines, with a recorded loss of
life of 5,000,000. During the last quarter of the century,
what? Eighteen famines, with an estimated mortality reaching
the awful totals of from 15,000,000 to 26,000,000. And this
does not include the many more millions (over 6,000,000 in a
single year) barely kept alive by government doles.
"What is the cause of these famines, and this appalling
increase in their number and destructiveness. The common
answer is, the failure of the rains. But there seems to be no
evidence that the rains fail worse now than they did a hundred
years ago. Moreover, why should failure of rains bring famine?
The rains have never failed over areas so extensive as to
prevent the raising of enough food in the land to supply the
needs of the entire population. Why then have people starved?
… Because they were so indescribably poor. All candid and
thorough investigation into the causes of the famines of India
has shown that the chief and fundamental cause has been and is
the poverty of the people,—a poverty so severe and terrible
that it keeps the majority of the entire population on the
very verge of starvation even in years of greatest plenty. …
"And the people are growing poorer and poorer. The late Mr.
William Digby, of London, long an Indian resident, in his
recent book entitled, _Prosperous India_, shows from
official estimates and Parliamentary and Indian Blue Books,
that, whereas the average daily income of the people of India
in the year 1850 was estimated as four cents per person (a
pittance on which one wonders that any human being can live),
in 1882 it had fallen to three cents per person and in 1900
actually to less than two cents per person. Is it any wonder
that people reduced to such extremities as this can lay up
nothing? …
{312}
"One cause of India’s impoverishment is heavy taxation.
Taxation in England and Scotland is high, so high that
Englishmen and Scotchmen complain bitterly. But the people of
India are taxed more than twice as heavily as the people of
England and three times as heavily as those of Scotland.
According to the latest statistics at hand, those of 1905, the
annual average income per person in India is about $6.00,
and the annual tax per person about $2.00. …
"Notice the single item of salt-taxation. Salt is an absolute
necessity to the people, to the very poorest; they must have
it or die. But the tax upon it which for many years they have
been compelled to pay has been much greater than the cost
value of the salt. Under this taxation the quantity of salt
consumed has been reduced actually to one-half the quantity
declared by medical authorities to be absolutely necessary for
health. …
"Another cause of India’s impoverishment is the destruction of
her manufactures, as the result of British rule. … Great
Britain wanted India’s markets. She could not find entrance
for British manufactures so long as India was supplied with
manufactures of her own. So those of India must be sacrificed.
England had all power in her hands, and so she proceeded to
pass tariff and excise laws that ruined the manufactures of
India and secured the market for her own goods.
"A third cause of India’s impoverishment is the enormous and
wholly unnecessary cost of her government. …
"Another burden upon the people of India which they ought not
to be compelled to bear, and which does much to increase their
poverty, is the enormously heavy military expenses of the
government. …
"Perhaps the greatest of all the causes of the impoverishment
of the Indian people is the steady and enormous drain of
wealth from India to England, which has been going on ever
since the East India Company first set foot in the land, three
hundred years ago, and is still going on with steadily
increasing Volume. … Says Mr. R. C. Dutt, author of the
_Economic History of India_ (and there is no higher
authority), ‘A sum reckoned at twenty millions of English
money, or a hundred millions of American money [some other
authorities put it much higher], which it should be borne in
mind is equal to half the net revenues of India, is remitted
annually from this country [India] to England, without a
direct equivalent.’"
_J. T. Sunderland,
The New Nationalist Movement in India
(Atlantic Monthly, October, 1908)._
INDIA: A. D. 1905-1909.
The Partition of Bengal.
Resentment and Disaffection of the Bengalese.
The Swadeshi Movement.
Reported improvement of conditions in the new province of
Eastern Bengal and Assam.
The partition of Bengal, in October, 1905, one of the latest
measures of Lord Curzon’s administration of the Government of
India, gave rise to much native agitation and disaffection,
and is still under criticism in England, but not likely to be
undone. In the view of the Anglo-Indian Government the
partition was a necessity, because of the magnitude of the
province, in territory and population, which made the task of
provincial administration too difficult. It was far the
largest of the administrative divisions of British India,
containing nearly a third of the Indian subjects of the
English King. Assam, formerly joined with it, had been
separated from it administratively in 1874, under a Chief
Commissioner. Fifteen of the eastern districts of Bengal,
adjacent to Assam, were now united with the latter to form a
new province, called Eastern Bengal and Assam, and this
disruption of the old province was resented very passionately
by a large part of the Bengalese. They refused to believe the
reasons given for the partition, but gave it an offensive
explanation, which one of the native journals in Calcutta put
briefly as follows: "The objects of the scheme are, briefly,
first, to destroy the collective power of the Bengali people;
secondly, to overthrow the political ascendency of Calcutta;
and, thirdly, to foster in East Bengal the growth of a
Mohammedan power which it is supposed will have the effect of
keeping in check the rapidly growing strength of the educated
Hindu community." In the official British view, on the other
hand, the whole stir of Bengalese feeling was artfully wrought
up for mischievous ends; but it is easier to believe that
something in the nature of a historic sentiment of nationality
was really hurt and angered by the partition. Yet Bengal
cannot be said to have had anything that resembled a distinct
national history for many centuries before it came under the
rule of the British East India Company, in 1765. Nor had its
name been precisely and continuously attached to any
well-defined territory.
Whatever the source of excited feeling may have been, however,
it was ardent and persistent, especially in the educated
class, and it gave a start to what received the name of the
Swadeshi or national movement of hostility to all things
English, directed mainly to the boycotting of English
merchandise, and to the organization of efforts for promoting
home production in all industrial fields. The Swadeshi
movement soon spread beyond Bengal; but its stimulations have
been centered there. The intensity of the feeling in Bengal
was such that on the 16th of October, 1905, when the partition
took effect, the Hindus of Calcutta put on mourning garments,
suspended business and work, and vowed that its anniversaries
should be memorial mourning days. Pupils in native schools
became so offensive in their anti-English demonstrations that
the Lieutenant-Governor of the new province, Sir Bampfylde
Fuller, in February, 1906, unwisely requested the Calcutta
University to disaffiliate two schools in the Pabna district,
taking away the pecuniary aid they received. The request was
disapproved by Lord Curzon’s successor in the Viceroyalty,
Lord Minto, and rather than withdraw it the
Lieutenant-Governor resigned.
In the winter of 1909 the London _Times_ sent a special
correspondent into Eastern Bengal to study the results of the
partition, so far as developed in three years. His
observations and conclusions were communicated in a long,
interesting letter from Dacca, February 15th. He wrote:
"No one can visit the new province, and endeavour to inquire
impartially into its condition before the ‘partition,’ without
realizing that some administrative division of Bengal had
become imperative. Until five years ago, Eastern Bengal was
the ‘Cinderella’ of the provinces of India. Good
administration stopped short on the line of the Ganges. Beyond
that line officers were few, and the interest of the central
authorities in their work and in the welfare of the people in
their charge was comparatively limited. …
{313}
Land revenue administration was persistently neglected in the
temporary settled tracts. Calcutta and its immediate vicinity,
and the more accessible districts of Old Bengal, absorbed the
greater part of the time and attention of the Bengal
Government. Money was poured out upon Calcutta and its
environs, and Eastern Bengal was financially starved. Very
little was spent upon education, and the whole riverain region
was most inadequately policed. Crime was far more rife in the
southern districts of the province than in any other part of
India. The peasantry groaned beneath the exactions of the
representatives of absentee landlords, and they were left
unregarded and unprotected. The whole province suffered
because its rulers were immersed in the preoccupations of
Calcutta. The very railways were constructed, not to serve the
needs of these 30 millions of people, but to meet the
requirements of the city on the Hughli. …
"It is remarkable to note how, in the short space of three
years, the old deplorable conditions of Eastern Bengal have
already undergone a satisfactory process of modification. The
province is no longer content to be dragged at the tail of Old
Bengal. A new and independent provincial spirit is springing
up. Eastern Bengal is beginning to recognize all that a
separate existence means to it. Its Civil servants, from the
Lieutenant-Governor downwards, take a pride in the great work
of regeneration which has been entrusted to them. Their task
is enormous, and the workers are far too few. They are like
men who have been set to create a new colony out of a land of
chaos. They have before them almost as formidable an
undertaking as the making of modern Egypt, but it is an Egypt
of green rice-fields with half-a-dozen Niles. …
"The demand for higher education in Eastern Bengal is perhaps
greater than in any other part of India. The admirable
Government College at Dacca has now been provided with
splendid buildings, begun, however, before the 'partition.'
The whole province is being supplied with a set of colleges
adequate to its needs. The staffs of the colleges are being
augmented and their administration overhauled. The principal
private colleges are also being assisted with liberal grants
and transformed into institutions which will give a sound
education. The exceptionally large number of 'high' English
schools in Eastern Bengal had also been greatly neglected,
both those under the Government and those in private hands.
All are now being improved, and are receiving liberal
assistance. …
"Another important task undertaken by the new Government is
that of conducting an elaborate survey and framing a Record of
Rights in the zemindari tracts which constitute the bulk of
the province. The undertaking was devised before the
‘partition,’ but it has been expedited by the change. It is an
extraordinary thing that in all these permanently settled
areas there has been hitherto no record and no map. The
consequence was that the cultivators were constantly bullied
and harassed by the agents of the absentee zemindars, and were
never able to feel any reasonable security of tenure of the
land they tilled. Land disputes were incessant, and were
constantly accompanied by loss of life. In the Backergunge
district, the most turbulent area in India, there were
frequent riots, of which murders were an almost invariable
feature. Since the framing of the Record of Rights in
Backergunge this class of crime has already decreased by 50
per cent.
"I have yet to meet anybody, English or Indian, who can tell
me in what respect the ‘partition’ has injured a single living
soul; while one has only to visit this province, invigorated
with new life and inspired by new aspirations, to realize the
benefits the severance has conferred upon millions of
neglected people. To alter or to modify it now would be
suicidal folly; it would be worse, for it would be a criminal
blunder. It would not placate the wordy ‘patriots’ of
Calcutta, who have used the ‘partition’ as a rallying cry for
lack of a better grievance; and it would alienate the 18
millions of backward Mahomedans in the province who have
placed their alliance in British honour and British pledges.
The Nawab of Dacca, with whom I had a long conversation on the
subject, declared that any attempt to meddle with the
‘partition’—an attempt he still seemed to fear was
possible—would produce the most deplorable results among his
co-religionists. … Nor is there the slightest need for change
or modification. The ‘partition’ is already thrice justified
in the eyes of all men, save only a few malcontent members of
Parliament who know nothing of present conditions in Bengal.
Even in Calcutta the outcry, which was always less against the
fact of the ‘partition’ than against the motive which the
Bengalis erroneously believed to have prompted it, has long
ago died away. Yet, justifiable and necessary though the
‘partition’ was, it remains to be added that, apart from its
complex administrative problems, Eastern Bengal will never be
a very easy province to control. The high-caste Hindus, the
Brahmins, the Baidyas, and the Kayasths—the Brahmins and the
lesser Brahmins,—rule the roast, and it will be long years
before the teeming millions of Mahometan cultivators emerge
from their depressed condition. The few Mahomedan families who
can claim noble birth are decadent and disappearing. The
Hindus have absorbed their lands, the clever lawyers have
converted themselves into rich landowners. It is from the
ranks of these high-caste Hindus that are drawn the members of
the revolutionary societies to which I alluded in a
telegraphic despatch sent from this city yesterday. These
classes show a persistent and increasing spirit of hostility
to the British Raj which no amount of conciliatory measures
will overcome. It is impossible to move about the province and
to converse with the men who know it best without feeling that
the situation is full of dangerous possibilities. The men of
Eastern Bengal are more courageous, more determined, more
persistent than their compatriots in Old Bengal; and the
better classes of Hindus have qualities which are not easily
discernible in the Calcutta _babu_. They approach more
nearly to the spirit of the Mahrattas of the Deccan than any
other section of the people on this side of India. It is a
significant fact that most of the prisoners now under trial at
Alipur in connexion with the anarchist conspiracy came from
Eastern Bengal. But even as one writes one realizes how
difficult it is to generalize in this country of startling
paradox.
{314}
Yesterday, in Dacca, 200 Hindu pundits assembled to present a
Sanscrit address to the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Lancelot
Hare. Many of them had come long distances. They were all old
men with great nobility of countenance, some with long beards,
others with the face of the Cæsars. And at the conclusion of
the ceremony each kindly and venerable scholar advanced, and
with great dignity presented the Lieutenant-Governor with a
rose. From the bombs of last week to the roses of yesterday,
what a gulf lies between the two!"
INDIA: A. D. 1907.
Hostility in Western Canada to Hindu Laborers.
See (in this Volume)
RACE PROBLEMS: CANADA.
INDIA: A. D. 1907 (December).
Meeting and Resolution of the All-India Moslem League.
Mahomedan loyalty to the British Government.
A new factor in Indian politics.
"On December 30th last a Mahomedan Conference, in session at
Dacca, the capital of the newly-created Province of Eastern
Bengal, departing absolutely from its traditions, openly
discussed the question of the protection of Mahomedan
interests from a political standpoint, and finally carried
unanimously a motion for the formation of an ‘All-India Moslem
League’ to promote among the Mahomedans of India feelings of
loyalty to the British Government, and to remove any
misconceptions that may arise as to the intentions of
Government with regard to any of its measures; to protect and
to advance the political rights and interests of the
Mahomedans of India, and respectfully to represent their needs
and aspirations to Government, and to prevent the rise among
Mahomedans in India of any feelings of hostility towards other
communities, without prejudice to the other objects of the
League. A strong Provisional Committee was formed, with power
to add to its number, and the joint secretaries appointed were
the Nawabs Vicar-ul-mulk and Mohsin-ul-mulk, two of the most
important members of the Mahomedan community in India and men
of great intellectual capacity. The Committee was charged to
frame a constitution within a period of four months, and
further to convene a meeting of Indian Mahomedans at a
suitable time and place to lay the constitution before such
meeting for final approval and adoption. The Rubicon has been
crossed; the Mahomedans of India have forsaken the shades of
retirement for the political arena; henceforth a new factor in
Indian politics has to be reckoned with."
_E. E. Lang,
The All-India Moslem League
(Contemporary Review, September, 1907)._
INDIA: A. D. 1907-1908.
The Outbreak of Anarchism.
Summary Measures of Suppression.